These days, most of the 2.4GHz cordless phones on the shelves are digital, but occasionally, you'll find the rare 2.4GHz analog model. Just such an anomaly is the Motorola MA362, an attractive cordless with a built-in answering machine that sells for a list price of $72.99.
With its silver casing and slightly curved body, the slick-looking MA362 complements even the most high-tech digital home. It's lightweight without feeling chintzy, and slip-proof tennis-racket-style grips on both sides make it a pleasure to hold. However, this phone isn't especially comfortable when set between your head and shoulder, so we advise making good use of the included belt clip and headset for longer gab sessions. The buttons on the rubberized, backlit keypad are responsive, and it's easy to identify callers (the phone supports caller ID), thanks to the MA362's three-line backlit display. We found that the volume controls on the side of the phone made for easy adjustment.
The MA362's feature list is ho-hum but in line with that of phones in its class. You can program up to 10 speed-dial numbers and choose up to three ring tones--nice if you have multiple lines in your house (a kids' line and a business line, for example). But we would have liked some sort of volume control for the ringer; hearing the phone ring can be hard if you're walking around the house with the TV cranked up. Unlike the MA352, this model comes with a built-in answering machine, which is easy to set up but does have some quirks--for example, it plays back all your messages, not just the new ones. However, the 15-minute message-recording time is sufficient.
In our standby tests, the phone hit the rated six-day period, and we met the six-hour talk time as well. This phone's wherewithal is impressive, but sadly, we experienced a fair amount of interference during testing. We heard intermittent static, followed by a weird clicking sound, and our location didn't seem to matter much. We tested this phone in a wireless LAN environment, which most likely contributed to the interference, but compared with other phones we tested in this environment, the MA362 performed far worse than most. Despite the phone's good looks, it's hard to ignore the static.
With its silver casing and slightly curved body, the slick-looking MA362 complements even the most high-tech digital home. It's lightweight without feeling chintzy, and slip-proof tennis-racket-style grips on both sides make it a pleasure to hold. However, this phone isn't especially comfortable when set between your head and shoulder, so we advise making good use of the included belt clip and headset for longer gab sessions. The buttons on the rubberized, backlit keypad are responsive, and it's easy to identify callers (the phone supports caller ID), thanks to the MA362's three-line backlit display. We found that the volume controls on the side of the phone made for easy adjustment.
The MA362's feature list is ho-hum but in line with that of phones in its class. You can program up to 10 speed-dial numbers and choose up to three ring tones--nice if you have multiple lines in your house (a kids' line and a business line, for example). But we would have liked some sort of volume control for the ringer; hearing the phone ring can be hard if you're walking around the house with the TV cranked up. Unlike the MA352, this model comes with a built-in answering machine, which is easy to set up but does have some quirks--for example, it plays back all your messages, not just the new ones. However, the 15-minute message-recording time is sufficient.
In our standby tests, the phone hit the rated six-day period, and we met the six-hour talk time as well. This phone's wherewithal is impressive, but sadly, we experienced a fair amount of interference during testing. We heard intermittent static, followed by a weird clicking sound, and our location didn't seem to matter much. We tested this phone in a wireless LAN environment, which most likely contributed to the interference, but compared with other phones we tested in this environment, the MA362 performed far worse than most. Despite the phone's good looks, it's hard to ignore the static.